Being Somebody
by harukakanata
Summary: One-shot. Tenten is your typical ordinary girl...or is she? Rated PG to be safe.


**Author: **LOL, I was bored and I decided to do a little one-shot that popped into my head. Unfortunately I can't update my fic "**Flowers Collection**", cuz I'm in Florida right now and there are no computers in my hotel room. But with the help of my aunt who lives in Florida, I was able to use her laptop! Enough with the talk, let's get on with the fic! Oh, and by the way, please don't sue me if I happen to make some grammar mistakes. I'm near-sighted and I need my glasses to look at the computer screen, but…uhh…I unfortunately can't find my glasses right now…hehe…So please try to understand my mistakes by thinking of my eye-sight. (sigh)…If only I could wear contact lenses instead of glasses…

**Legend:**

"This" is normal speech

'_This' _is when someone is thinking

9999999 is scene change

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything of the anime/manga series of Naruto!

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**Being Somebody**

She was nobody.

Everyone thought she was just your typical ordinary girl who can handle weapons very well. They thought she lived in a warm, cozy house where she had loving parents, and perhaps a sibling or two. Or maybe she was an only child. But they were wrong. Nobody knew anything about her. Nobody could understand her, not even her own teammates. But she didn't care about how her teammates felt about her. To her, they were family. Lee was like the little brother she never had, even though he could be a bit crazy at times, and Gai was okay too, though he was also kind of crazy. But out of her teammates, she had to admit that Neji stood out the most to her. She didn't fawn over him like other fan-girls, she didn't annoy him to hell like Lee did, and she didn't have any "special" feelings for him like one would assume. Instead, her feelings for him were something like what Hinata felt for Naruto. Admiration. She felt it every time, whether it was during a mission, or in the chuunin exams, and even when they were just training. But she also felt envy. Sometimes jealousy. But most of the time, her feelings for him was envy. Who wouldn't envy him? He was a genius, he had good looks, he was good at nearly everything he did, he was powerful, but most of all…he was SOMEBODY. Unlike her, who was NOBODY. He was Hyuuga Neji. She was Tenten. He was part of the great Hyuuga clan and was one of the strongest in the clan. She didn't even have a last name. He was NEJI. Whoever heard his name would be deeply interested. She was Tenten. Nobody knew much about her and obviously didn't care. Heck, her name even meant "Here and there"! He was Hyuuga Neji. She was Tenten. And that would never change. That was why she envied the Hyuuga genius so much. He was also a master at hiding his true emotions. As for Tenten, she wasn't afraid to show emotions. She should be proud of that. But she wasn't. Nobody would be proud of her. She had no parents who would cheer her on, she had no older sibling to look up to, she had no younger sibling to worry about, and though she was one of the best kunoichis of Konoha, nobody paid attention to her. Life wasn't fair. But it never will be.

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Imagine her happiness when Neji asked Tenten to train with him for the first time, when they were still genins. The one she envied and admired so much had just asked HER to train with HIM. She was honored. But she began to have her doubts when she lost every time they sparred. Then she realized, she wasn't accepted. She was just a replacement for the sparring partner he never had. If Lee was a sane person, Neji would have definitely asked LEE to train with him, not Tenten. Though that awful truth scarred Tenten bit by bit every time she and Neji sparred, she kept quiet. She learned to only reveal her "strong" emotions and not her "weak" emotions. Maybe she picked that trait up from sparring with Neji all the time.

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Neji wasn't her first target of envy and admiration. When Tenten was five years old, she caught a glimpse of Tsunade, one of the legendary sannin. Tsunade had been visiting Konoha for a brief moment and little Tenten had just happened to get a look at her. She had long blond hair, sparkling hazelnut-colored eyes, powerful, and one of the best kunoichis in the land. Tsunade's beautiful face, grace, and strength captivated Tenten as the female sennin strode past her with grace and beauty. That was when Tenten swore to be a great kunoichi like Tsunade. But she knew it was a long, hard path.

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Even when she creamed the Rain shinobi in the chuunin exams, Tenten was still never acknowledged. After all, Sakura, Lee, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, and everyone else had also made it to chuunin rank. Shortly after that, Neji had even made it to jounin rank, though he was still too young to take on a genin team. But even though Tenten was only a chuunin and Neji was a jounin, he continued to train with her and her only. She wondered why. She could only hope that she wasn't just a replacement for Lee. That was highly unlikely, but she could still dream. She was doing that a lot these days. Her mind seemed to be in the gutter every once in a while. She thought about many things. Tsunade was now officially the godaime hokage, and though Tenten had been really happy to see that her "idol" was part of Konoha, her face still fell a little when Tsunade picked Sakura to be her apprentice. Tenten understood; After all, Sakura had superb chakra control and had a lot of potential. It was no wonder Sakura passed the chuunin exam so easily. But what affected Tenten the most was that everyone acknowledged her now. Before Sakura met Tsunade, she was one of the girly fan-girls that everyone detested so much. She had changed, obviously. She didn't fawn over boys anymore. She was also the great Tsunade's apprentice. It was no wonder she was acknowledged so quickly. But Tenten couldn't help but feel helplessness whenever she saw the smiling, pretty Sakura. How come no one acknowledged HER? Wasn't she good enough? Or was having a last name and being Tsunade's apprentice such a big deal? If it was…The world must be coming to an end. A horrible end.

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Tenten actually felt proud of herself when she was elected to be in the jounin exams. Out of more than 100 chuunins who hoped to be elected, TENTEN and a few others were elected. Sadly, Lee wasn't. But he continued to cheer her on anyways. Sakura was also elected. Tenten vowed, on that day when 20 chuunins were elected, that she would beat Haruno Sakura. Fair and square. Why? Sakura was someone Tenten had to overcome. The pink-haired girl was almost like…a BARRIER, blocking Tenten's way to greatness. There was no way to overcome Tsunade and it was very difficult to overcome Neji, so Sakura would be first.

'_I'm sorry,' _Tenten thought. _'But I must. I must break any barriers that stand in my way!' _

Now, there she was, standing in the middle of the arena where the jounin exam was being held. The jounin exam was a tournament, so two ninjas would be picked randomly to fight against each other. The five remaining ninjas would be elected as a jounin. Tenten planned to remain until the very end, even if she collapsed of chakra exhaustion trying. It was the finals right now. Tenten had faired very well during the exam and so did Sakura. It was Tenten vs. Haruno Sakura. As the match started, both kunoichis charged towards each other. They both blocked each other's hits and defended against each other's attacks. The match was very long, longer than anyone had ever expected. Seconds turned into minutes. Lots of minutes. Both girls were tired and were running out of chakra, but they wouldn't give up, especially Tenten. Sakura was fighting to please everyone. Tenten was fighting to achieve greatness and be acknowledged for once. As the match continued, rain started to pour. Beads of sweat were washed off by the cool, steady fall of rain. Rain ran down both kunoichis' faces and arms, soaking their clothes and chilling them to the bone. The fight soon became a battle of will. The one with more willpower would win. Tenten couldn't give up. She wouldn't give up. But she was quickly running out of weapons, and all her scrolls were used. She would have to fix them after the match ended. Sakura, meanwhile, was nearly out of chakra and strength. Both were evenly matched. The ground was now slippery because of the rain. Whoever slipped and fell first would lose. Through blurred eyes and tired body, Tenten knew that she had an advantage. A small one, but it existed. Tenten still had her last weapon, and she hadn't used it yet. After all, it needed lots of chakra and the match would be over if Tenten didn't hit. Sakura had no more moves or weapons whatsoever. She was fighting with taijutsu. Tenten was surprised to find that Sakura's kicks and punches didn't do much damage to her. Perhaps it's because she has no more energy. Or maybe it's because Neji's long training sessions paid off and managed to increase Tenten's stamina by a lot. It was clear now. Tenten had an advantage. She could win. She blocked Sakura's last kick and held her foot firmly. With the roar of the pelting rain and the cheers of the crowd ringing in Tenten's ears, Tenten could vaguely hear Lee's cheers and Gai's roars of enthusiasm. Who they were cheering for, Tenten couldn't tell. She no longer cared. Her attention was on the fight, and when she prepared for the attack, she caught a glimpse of Neji's face in the crowd. A glint appeared in his eyes, as if saying "Go for it, Tenten." Tenten didn't hesitate as she forced her numb and clammy hands into a fist. Everything was in slow motion as Tenten hit Sakura's stomach with her fist. At the last moment, Tenten shot a bit of chakra out of her fist, so the damage was doubled. Sakura fell to the ground, coughing up a bit of blood before passing out. The rain continued to fall. Everything seemed unreal as Tenten was declared the winner. Tenten stood in a daze, her eyes staring out into space. Her breathing was ragged and tired and her whole body hurt, but Tenten still stood where she was. Cheers erupted from the crowd and Lee, Gai, and Neji jumped down into the arena. Tenten felt pats on her back and heard the excited voices of her comrades. With unfocused eyes, she could see Neji's smirking face. She looked around. Everyone was cheering for her. They were cheering for Tenten, the girl with no last name, the girl who didn't act like other girls, the girl who only specialized in weapons…They were cheering for HER. Tenten's eyes rested on the sight of Neji's jounin vest.

'_I'll be wearing that, too…' _she thought and a small smile formed on her lips. It had stopped raining. Her exhausted body and mind pained her but Tenten was only filled with joy. Her sight became fuzzy, then blurry, and finally…black. Her body went limp and she dropped to the ground with a tired but contented smile on her face. Neji and Lee picked her up and supported her as they waited for the medics to arrive.

She wasn't nobody. She was somebody now.

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So…that's the end, I guess. I was watching the anime episodes of Naruto all over again (I have episodes 1 to 134) and after watching Tenten's fight against Temari and her loss, I wanted to write a fic about Tenten WINNING. Well, PLEASE REVIEW! Oh, and if you're a fan of my fic "**Konoha: A New Generation**", check out my profile. I drew two pictures on the computer. I had to use Paint instead of Photoshop cuz my aunt doesn't have Photoshop on her laptop. That sucks. Well, check out the drawings if you wish. 


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